Saturday, August 31, 2013

So,
now I have the color version of A MOUSE IS IN THE HOUSE finished and
the title back into publication, it’s time to tackle the next
publishing project. Yes, I know, I should also be writing my
novel(s), recording, etc, etc.

It
was good to have a task to focus on for a few days and now I need
another. On to the next book! I could finish working up my other
picture book in progress, AWFUL ALVIN. Or I could illustrate another
chapbook of poetry. Either way (or some other way, even), it is the
artwork that needs my attention.

The
poetry book would be a version of my long poem THE TOWER. That is
another book that might be affected by the format changes at Lulu (my
printer). Any square black and white saddle-stitched is no longer
viable — and that would have described either one of these books
(and MOUSE, as well). I’m going to color, and a slightly larger size,
on ALVIN so there will be no problem there.

THE
TOWER is another matter. There should be just enough pages that I can
go to a perfect-bound volume. It will be in black and white, though
possibly penciled gray scale illustrations rather than my typical pen
and ink, and does not have to be square though I do think that might
be the best look.

As
long as I’m on the subject of new books, I will mention that I
think I am ready to tackle an outside project or two. Yes, I’d be
willing to take on, prepare, and publish someone else’s book if it
appealed to me. Not that Arachis Press could do much in the way of
promotion but then even the big presses don’t these days — it’s
up to the author much of the time. Anyway, it might be nice to have a
title or two that didn’t have my name on them as author!

*
* *

I
have said before — and no doubt will again — that I consider
myself no great shakes as an illustrator. None the less, I turn out
my rather stilted and static drawings and hope they suffice. It is
not so much a matter of technique as it is of temperament. I’m a
splasher of paint, not a natural draftsman.

There’s
no doubt that a part of me would like to emulate the great fantasy
illustrators of the Sixties and Seventies: Frank Frazetta, Roy G.
Krenkel (LOVE his drawings), Jeff Jones (I may have aped his painting
style on occasion). But the guy who actually did influence me a bit
came on their heels.

A ROY G KRENKEL DRAWING

That
would be Barry Windsor-Smith (known as just Barry Smith when he hit
Marvel). Unlike the flowing pen of a Krenkel, BWS used more broken
lines. And his work could (and can) be decidedly stylized. It’s
more ‘artsy,’ if you will. I liked it then, I like it now.

At
my age, of course, I have my own uniquely inept style but I am not
above trying to learn new things. The way to do that is to sit down
at my drawing board and get to work.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I
messed around a little today with colorizing another illustration for
the revised version of A MOUSE IS IN THE HOUSE. I’m reasonably
pleased with the results and will get onto the rest of the pictures,
as time permits.

I
also realized that the next picture book I had laid out — but
hadn’t found time to get back to since pretty much last year —
will have to be adjusted as well. In that the 7.5 by 7.5 size is not
longer viable, I think I will blow it up to 8.5, the same as MOUSE.
That should work okay, but make it more expensive.

So
why haven’t I found time? Nothing important — just a lot of
little projects, things to tie up from my mother’s estate, yard
work, etc. I’ve been moving things about (furniture, books) the
last few days and have pretty much finalized the way I want things in
this house (I’m still missing a couple bookcases that have been on
order for ten or twelve weeks now). Sorted out my bedding, and moved
the king-sized unit I’d stored in the carport into the master
bedroom (which had been Mom’s room) and am now ensconced there. I
like it.

I
had moved all my own bedroom furniture into there a while back and
used it all summer, but it’s back in the other bedroom now, my old
room. Where I may stay in winter as it is cozier and easier to heat.
I’ll see how I feel about it later. Extra single bed (which was
where my mother slept the past few years) is in the carport now, but
easy enough to get out — I reckon I could put up guests now, if
need be.

And
now I’m getting the books sorted out, except for the novels which
should go on the aforementioned shelves I ordered. Just finished
shelving the poetry. I think I need more poetry. Actually, the
library here is heavy on travel and history. And, of course, art.
Lots of art books.

Oh,
I just thought I’d mention that I have a Tumbler blog. My second
one, actually — the first one, last year, didn’t stick. This one
did, though I haven’t used it much since I started a couple or
three months ago. The intention, mostly, is to blog the goings-on in
my art studio, but there’s not much of that, at least so far!
That’s http://insolentlad.tumblr.com/

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

So, this is sort of what I have in mind for A MOUSE IS IN THE HOUSE...

What it comes down to is that large-format black and white saddle-stitched books are no longer going to be available. It makes sense that there would be little demand for them; most picture books are in color. I could just have the same b/w book published as a color book. It would look exactly the same but cost more!

Therefor, I'm playing around with colorizing the pictures with simple (digital) washes as in this picture --- a bit of a comic book-like technique. I think it could work. It does mean pretty much assembling the book over again but then I'd been thinking of coloring it pretty much from the start. And I did intend to create my next picture book this way so it's a bit of practice.

A couple pix of cannas in my unkempt and overgrown garden/yard. Ash tree behind them, nandinas further back, some Madagascar periwinkles blooming off to the side (they come up volunteer everywhere). I was testing my new camera here --- yes, I decided to get a semi-decent digital camera, though I will still use my 35mm on occasion.

It's nothing special, basically a point-and-shoot, but I got a waterproof model, a Fuji XP60, so I could use it in the water to snap surf pictures. Or fish, if I wished! Seems to do an OK job --- much better than a phone, anyway.

* * *

In some slightly different news, my children's picture book, A MOUSE IS IN THE HOUSE, is going to be out of print for a short while, as my printer doesn't want to work with the 8.5 by 8.5 format anymore. So I'll have to shrink it to 7.5, which should make it less expensive and may look better, too. As soon as I put it out, I realized a smaller size would have been preferable and now I've been forced to actually use it!

Incidentally, I have a dozen or so copies on hand if anyone just HAS to have one in the meantime.

Addendum, a tad later: There was some miscommunication involved
here. Going to 7.5 is altogether out and so is switching to a
perfect-bound format --- not enough pages in MOUSE to make it work. Our only option is to go to color for the book. Is it worth it to colorize all those pen and ink drawings? We'll see.

Friday, August 23, 2013

A
dozen years back, I was in a relationship with a graphic designer.
Which is not surprising — all my true long-term relationships have
been with graphic designers. Considering how they’ve turned out,
let us hope I’ve learned my lesson and will start dating women from
some other occupation.

But
that’s neither here nor there nor around the corner. With her being
a designer, we naturally talked about design occasionally. One
evening, I was making some remarks about something I was working on
for my own use, a flier for some event or another, and how I was
trying to get just the right balance on it. She right away suggested
I do a series of designs and pick out the one I liked best. ‘Don’t
you do variations on a theme?’ she asked.

And
you know what? I don’t. I have in my mind the ‘perfect’ version
of things and I’ll keep chipping away and changing until I get it.
Why would I turn out several versions when only would be right? It
would only confuse things!

I
guess that says something about me. Exactly what, I’m not sure. I
will admit that I can put on different personas as a musician and do
different versions of a song — the folky ‘old time’ piece I
sing tonight might come back tomorrow as a Calypso song. I think I
consider those separate works, though, and would search for the
perfect version of each.

I
don’t know what this bit of musing means and I’m not going to
worry myself about it. I’ll just go ahead and post it — after
all, there isn’t any other version.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I
was thinking about the television I watched as a kid and which shows
seem to have had an impact on me. By ‘youth’ I mean up to around
puberty — I’m not going to go into the teen years. That can be
another list, another time.

(The
Many Loves of) Dobie Gillis — okay, Dwayne Hickman was basically
channeling Jack Benny in this comedy, doing much of the same shtick
Benny had on radio. I didn’t recognize that at the time, of course.
After all, I was only nine when it came on the air. But I did
recognize that it was something quite different from most of what was
on the tube. Dobie turning and talking to the camera (and me), a la
Richard III, was quite unlike anything else I’d seen — the
original breaching of the ‘fourth wall’ on television.
Performance could be both a story and a conversation. And, of course,
let us not forget Bob Denver’s delightfully absurd turn as Maynard
G. Krebs the beatnik.

Rocky
and Bullwinkle — in the wasteland of children’s cartoon
programming, this was an oasis. It was a show that dared to be dopey
and smart at the same time. I wouldn’t mind getting in Mr Peabody’s
Wayback Machine and experiencing it all over again.

That
Was the Week That Was — the American version of the British
news/comedy show was a hit in my home. I know it didn’t last very
long — obviously a little too smart for broadcast television of the
time — but it made an impression. A great introduction to the world
of satire.

The
Outer Limits — unlike The Twilight Zone, which I often thought
predictable and dull (yes, even as a kid), TOL could scare me AND
make me think. There was an occasional touch of cynicism to it that
one did not see much of on the tube back then and the characters were
developed more than in most shows of a similar genre. No wonder it
didn’t last very long.

Hootenanny
— the folk music surge in popularity was almost over by the time it
came on the air — the Beatles were right around the corner, ready
to change everything. This was really the show that first made me pay
attention to music (and musicians) on television. Those folk singers
actually looked like they were having fun! Moreover, it introduced me
to the Smothers Brothers...now that’s one of those influences that
would return in the teen years.

Pretty much first draft, if one can actually say that about a poem that sees constant revision as it is written. But if I ever choose to go back in a week...month...year...to revise it, that could legitimately be called a second draft, I suppose.

addendum, a couple hours later: Somehow the formatting changed on this after I posted it! Should be fixed now. I think this has something to do with cutting and pasting from the brand new Version 4 of Open Office.

Monday, August 12, 2013

...as Eric Burdon sang. Not that most of you kids would know that song, but it made an impression on me at the time.And that time was in my teens. In that I last posted something my father wrote in his high school years, I thought I would do the same for myself:Shadow

Are we meant to
know happiness,To live and
laugh beneath blue skies,Or does day but
hold back the darkThat turns all
of our hopes to lies?

Yes, I was a pretty gloomy (shall we say depressed?) 17 year old. I'll admit this was tightened up a bit later on and I did slip it into my most recent chapbook of poetry, 'Dreamwinds' (available, of course, from the Arachis Press). I only hinted in the notes that some of the work in that particular book of verse was rather old---I didn't say which ones!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

This is something I found in my old papers, a little sketch my
father, James Reginald Brooke (1913-2005) wrote as a teen that was
published in his high school newspaper, ‘The Torch.’ (Bexley
High, in the Columbus Ohio suburbs) He was writing about his family’s
farm/get-away down in the Hocking Hills (where I spent some time
myself as a kid):

Night-fall in the HillsThe sun, leaving a golden blaze int the sky behind it, sinks
slowly behind a rock-covered hill, on whose crest rises a magnificent
pine. The gray light drifts quietly down over the tree-filled
valleys. Everything seems still and hushed as the last rays of the
sun disappear, except overhead where they glitter on the coal-black
wings of a solitary crow, as he wings his way homeward.

Lower and lower falls the curtain of darkness, and as the mist
rises, it mingles with the darkness forming a gray blanket over the
earth. From the surrounding woods ring the shrill cries of the
whip-poor-wills, and from the marsh the bull-frogs send up their
nightly serenade.

The moon rises majestically from behind a cloud, bathing the
world in a soft, silver glow. A star peeps forth, and is quickly
followed by many more, until it seems as though a myriad of sparkling
diamonds have been scattered about the sky in the form of a white
pathway.A gentle breeze comes up, swaying the pines to and fro, while in
the distance a cow bell tinkles musically. The moon smiles serenely
down, keeping watch over the sleeping world.

It is night in the hills.

Now, if I put my editor hat on (or should editors wear eye shades
like in the old movies?), I would find all sorts of things to red
pencil here. Fortunately, here I am just son and archiver. As the
work of a bright high-school kid, it’s pretty decent — hey, I've read
far, far worse from adults who think they can write!

And here is something else of his I came across, a bit of silly
doggerel he wrote for my mom about a planned vacation trip:

A long trip we shall makeTo a far away state by a lake,And though it must be ErieI’m with you all the way, Dearie.

We’ll stop and visit with DaughterAnd not just because we oughter;We’ll check on the neophyte farmerAnd snack with their budding charmer.

Then away in our little carGawking at things near and far;Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky,Now feeling free and really lucky.

Till we will come to OhioAnd someone there that you know;In Columbus on Oakland ParkWill be the mid-point of our lark!

We’ll see Daddy and sister, too,He’s O.K. now, it’s true;He’s waiting for his garden to growAfter all winter hidden in snow.

But soon our adieu we must bidAnd take off, we hope, without a skid.Meandering down the breath-taking Blue Ridge,Far miles over many a bridge.

There we will search high and low,From the top of a mountain in snowTo the fertile green valley below,In search of a farm with price low.

With trees and flower garden, too,And lots of room for a cow to moo.Just the right place for me and youTo vacation for a month or two.

Then away through rolling hills,Back again to our old tread-millsWhere we toil and pay the billsBut we’d rather be back in the hills.

Well, Naples isn’t that bad,Plenty of sunshine to be had,And away from grandchildren is sad;So here we are; I guess I’m mad!

Friday, August 02, 2013

I haven't actually anything much to say for myself today, but that's never stopped me before...I gave some thought to the children's album I'm supposed to be recording and decided that there are too many kiddie songs in a bouncy, island-pop style out there already. So, I'm sticking with the folkish sound I originally laid down. Fussing with finalizing backing tracks right now, should start laying down vocals soon. Depending on how well I'm breathing --- I'm inclined to blame my current respiratory condition on mold spores, with all the damp weather we've been having.And I must give thought, as well, to the short solos. I have NOT practiced playing guitar solos in a very long time and when I did, well, they were more BB King inspired than what should probably go on this sort of recording. Maybe I should just whistle. I do that pretty well, actually, and if Bing Crosby could get away with it, why not me?

In related news (well, it's about music, anyway), I decided to go back and try out MySpace to see if it was worth fooling with these days. I have a page there now that I intend to use for the 'composer' side of my music, instrumentals, formal classical-like stuff and so on. That's at: https://myspace.com/stephen.brooke. I can't say I'm very impressed by the user interface there --- it seems streamlined to the point of uselessness. But, hey, probably no one is using it anyway.